


As long as he can still be home for this

by Lbilover



Series: As long as he can still be home for this series [1]
Category: The Faculty (1998)
Genre: M/M, Parenthood, Post-Invasion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 08:56:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9431633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lbilover/pseuds/Lbilover
Summary: Zeke isn't sure he wants to go back to work.





	

Zeke closed the book and set it down; a pent-up sigh escaped him. He reached out and tucked the covers more tightly around the slight form sleeping in the bed, and then brushed a soft kiss across the tender skin at his temple.

“Out like a light, huh?” said a voice from the doorway.

“Yeah.” Zeke stood up, but didn’t turn around. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from that precious sight, from the rumpled dark hair and the absurdly long eyelashes fanned out on rosy cheeks.

A pair of strong arms wound around his waist and a warm body pressed snugly against his back. “Nothing’s really gonna change, Zeke. You’ll still be reading him his bedtime story and singing him to sleep.”

“I know, but fu- I mean, damn it, Case, I don’t want to go back to work.”

Zeke could feel Casey’s smile between his shoulder blades. “Frodo’s sound asleep. He can’t hear you say ‘fuck’.”

“Maybe his subconscious can. I don’t want to be a bad influence on him.”

“As if!” The warm body was gone, and determined hands tugged at Zeke’s shoulders until he was facing his lover. “You are the best fu- uh, friggin’ father ever, Zeke.”

Zeke had to smile. Casey with his enormous eyes and hair standing up every which way always put him in mind of an outraged kitten when he got riled up. For the zillionth time he blessed the fate that had given little Frodo the phenotype of his biological father instead of his surrogate mom, Stokes. Not that Stokes wasn’t beautiful in her own right, of course, but to Zeke’s way of thinking, there was simply no comparison. 

“I doubt that, but I try,” Zeke said. “And I don’t ever want Frodo to feel like I’m abandoning him.” _The way my own parents abandoned me._

Casey pursed his lips, looking thoughtful as he considered Zeke’s words. He never made light of Zeke’s fears, which was why Zeke could open up to him, confess to frailties and failings he’d never admitted to anyone in his life before. “You’re only going back part time,” Casey pointed out, “and with Frodo in kindergarten now, it’s not like he’ll even know you’re not at home. Besides…”

“I know, I know, with you self-employed, we can use the medical benefits, and the second income won’t hurt either.” 

“That’s true, but that’s not what I was gonna say. Zeke, you’re a brilliant guy, and you’ll eventually go out of your mind with boredom without some intellectual challenge. You _need_ to go back to work, for yourself.”

Which was also true, Zeke conceded, albeit reluctantly. Being a househusband and full-time father was rewarding work, and god knows he had a shit-load more respect for stay-at-home parents (his own pathetic excuses for parents had never qualified) now that he’d walked that particular walk. But there were times he thought if he had to watch one more episode of Sponge Bob or Teletubbies he might lose his fucking mind, and his Suzy Homemaker skills weren’t about to make Donna Reed drool with envy.

“I admit you’ve got a point, Case. But…”

“But, but, but,” Casey interjected. “No more ‘buts’. Remember how worried you were that naming our son ‘Frodo’ would make him an object of ridicule at school? It didn’t happen, did it?”

“That’s only because our son takes after you and doesn’t tolerate shit from anyone,” Zeke said. “C’mon, even you have to admit that Frodo Tyler-Connor is one of the most weird-ass names any kid could be saddled with.”

“I think it’s perfect,” Casey said stubbornly, “just like he is.”

“You got _that_ part right.” Zeke slid his arm around Casey, and in silence he contemplated their son, curled around the well-loved stuffed tiger that had once belonged to him. God, Frodo _was_ fucking perfect, Zeke thought, his heart nearly choking him as it swelled with parental love and pride. “I guess going back to work won’t be that bad as long as I can still be home for this,” he added.

“That’s my Zeke.” Casey raised up on his tiptoes and kissed Zeke on the cheek. “Now let’s go to bed. You’ve got an insanely busy day tomorrow and you need to get some sleep.”

“Bullshit, Casey. You want to go to bed so we can fu-, uh have sex.”

Casey giggled. “Well, but so do you.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Zeke said nonchalantly, and waited for the outraged kitten to start spitting and hissing. He didn’t have to wait long. Casey, he thought with amusement, was so easy to manipulate—sometimes, at least.

“ _Maybe, maybe not?_ ” Casey repeated. “Oh Tyler, you are so fu- uh, screwed. I am going to make you _beg_ for mercy before I’m finished with you.”

Which was exactly the outcome Zeke was hoping for. He loved it when Casey made him beg for mercy. But whereas once Casey might have tackled him right where he stood, or rushed him off to their bedroom without delay, now… well, there were other priorities that came first. Zeke watched Casey stoop to kiss their son. “Goodnight, sweet pea,” he whispered tenderly, smoothing the tumbled curls from Frodo’s brow. “Sleep tight. I love you.”

_I guess going back to work won’t be all that bad,_ Zeke thought, _as long as I can still be home for this, too._

~end~


End file.
